Designer vaginas

Reporter

If you’re unhappy with your appearance, and can do something about it to make yourself feel better – why not?

I was at a party a few years ago when a girlfriend dragged me into the bathroom and locked the door behind us. “I have to tell you something Annabel,” she said, eyes down, fidgeting with her belt loop.

“What is it, Bec?” I asked, worried. I could tell from her tearful and fearful expression that this was serious.

“Actually, I have to show you something,” she said, biting her lip. She undid her belt and started unzipping her jeans. I braced myself for the possible scenarios – an STD? An infected piercing? I wasn’t sure I wanted to see, either.

“Look,” she said, pointing towards her vagina and bursting into tears. “I have… an outtie.”

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Apparently Bec had just been privy to a conversation in which a few of the boys at the party were discussing their aversion to protruding labia minora. One guy was, in a truly gentlemanly fashion, telling his mates about the girl he had slept with the night before. “He said she had an outtie, and that it was disgusting!” cried Bec. “He wouldn’t go down on her because he was so grossed out!” The guys had then talked favourably about “innies” they’d had the pleasure of hooking up with, while Scott described last night’s experience as being faced with a “badly packed taco”.

By now, Bec was sobbing. “Oh, honey,” I said, lost for words, and still not quite sure where to look. “We’re all different, right? I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Besides, Scott’s a f**king d*ck!"

Bec felt differently. Traumatised by what she’d overheard, within two weeks she’d booked in for a labiaplasty with a cosmetic surgeon. She spent thousands of dollars on the procedure, despite the select few people she’d told trying to talk her out of it. I felt sad at the time, and a bit angry, angry that some idiot conversation she’d overheard had led to this, but I knew that Bec wasn’t alone. Concurrent with the rise of the porn industry, of course, has been the widespread takeup of behaviours designed to make us look like porn stars, from hair removal to plastic surgery. It was reported last weekend that labiaplasties and vaginoplasties claimed on Medicare have more than doubled in Australia over the past decade. Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists vice-president Ajay Rane said labiaplasties and vulvoplasties to reduce the size of a woman's genitals were ''the modern version of FGM (female genital mutilation)''.

I know that Bec, for one, would disagree with this assessment. Once the scars had healed, and she resumed a regular sex life, she reported feeling a hundred times more sexually confident than she had previously. “Before, I’d been embarrassed to have sex, or even let guys touch or look at my vagina,” she said. “Now, I’m kind of proud of it... It’s not very girl power, I know, but it’s the truth.”

Vaginal cosmetic surgery is obviously a far more extreme reaction to cultural expectations than, say, hair removal, but I wondered if I was being hypocritical in pitying Bec for caving to societal pressures. Women do similar (albeit less radical) things every day in the name of looking good. We let strangers rip hot wax off our genitals, contorting our bodies into all manner of undignified positions in the process. If we want to remove hair down there permanently, we might opt for laser treatment, an experience akin to being tortured with an electric stapler.

Seeing how happy Bec was after the operation made me question my dismissal of most cosmetic surgery as an unnecessary evil. I was speaking to a woman recently who had suffered from thyroid disease and elephantitis as a university student. She spent $50,000 on treatment to reduce the swelling in her legs and remove the excess fatty and fibrous tissue. She said that after having her surgery, she looked at women getting breast enlargements and tummy tucks in a new light. “I used to think badly of women who got fake boobs, but now I sort of think – if you’re unhappy with your appearance, and can do something about it to make yourself feel better – why not? Who am I to judge?”

Suffering from a debilitating and painfully obvious condition like elephantitis is a far cry from having what you might deem to be small boobs or overly large labia minora, but if it’s causing you a similar amount of psychological distress, and you are able to do something about it, should you be chastised for making that decision?

Obviously, the problem is in our culture – in the perpetuation of idealised, unattainable images of beauty. In a perfect world, we’d accept that our bodies are different and embrace them for their uniqueness and for what they can do, rather than feel compelled to alter them to make amends for their perceived shortcomings. Sadly, that world is not our reality.

If I hated the shape or size of my nose, I’d probably do something about it. I’m sure that in most cases, girls requesting vaginal cosmetic surgery, like Bec, have nothing to worry about. But who gets to make that call? And if doing so makes them feel that much better (even if their reasons are misguided), is it a such a bad thing?

218 comments so far

And they say the diet pill industry is a money making scam

Commenter

Gaz

Location

Yarra

Date and time

December 18, 2012, 8:52AM

Oh sure... let's accept the new (and horrible) status quo about the cutting and shaping, squeezing, striping and starving of women's bodies because we already do so much of it. What's one more little snip? Hey, how about using this new horizon to question the degradation already practiced? Poor reasoning and more pseudo thoughtful/feminist shoring up of patriarchal control and punishment of female bodies.

Commenter

gab

Location

coburg

Date and time

December 31, 2012, 6:53PM

Pills...funny how taking a Viagra isn't seen as a sign of weakness. I'm gay male and have to say if most guys knew just how unsightly and what a turn-off their appendages were most of them would have a heart-attack and the over-population issue would be solved.

Commenter

Daniel

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

January 02, 2013, 12:27AM

Don't blame the industry...(not that I am involved) blame society, or better still the morons who feel the need to put the women down, whether it be in front of them or to their mates.

Commenter

Unbelievable

Date and time

January 03, 2013, 6:50AM

Well it depends surely? If someone truly does feel there is something they need 'fixed' then there is nothing wrong with investigating that. I do however suggest that before people book in for surgery that they look at what different bodies look like.

I've had lasik eye surgery and yes, it made me feel ten times more attractive to not have to wear glasses. I'd also consider some lipo or body scultping down the track to help me feel better about myself and I don't think that's too radical. I've also had some other surgery which could have been a disaster but turned out well - it was for health reasons as well as cosmetic ones. My sister has had reconstructive surgery on her breasts due to a medical condition and so has implants. It made her feel 'normal' too.

I think like anything in life, surgery and cosmetic procedures need to done for a reason and in moderation. The full effects and consequences need to be explored before embarking on it. Unfortunately it's an emotional decision rather than a logical one. So that has to be recognised. I suppose in this modern world it's hard to not feel judged or inadequate about our bodies. It's a battle everyday, We love good looking people.

Commenter

She-Raz

Date and time

December 18, 2012, 9:07AM

I want to have Lasik eye surgery! Not because I care about the way the glasses look but it is an absolute pain to be so dependent on them (plus they fog up every time I look at what I'm cooking) and I sometimes feel like I am slowly becoming cross eyed.

Anyway I agree that we love good looking people but we all have different ideas of what constitutes as good looking. For example a friend of mine seems to be attracted to men who resemble shambling bears whereas the men in my life tend to be tall and geeky. The wonderful thing (IMO only) about contemporary society is its incredible diversity with both personality and appearance.

Commenter

Jill

Location

psychedelia

Date and time

December 18, 2012, 12:41PM

I LOVE girls with Glasses. It was one of the things that caught my eye when I first met my wife. Attraction is a wierd thing. It is quite often the differences that a particular girl has from the rest of the "pack" that attact us. In my experience, becoming "the same" as all the other girls will probably leave you single. Love isn't about looks.

Commenter

Mad Man

Location

East Hills

Date and time

December 18, 2012, 1:49PM

It's awesome Jill, hardly any hassle at all and pretty cheap these days :)

Commenter

She-Raz

Date and time

December 18, 2012, 1:56PM

I don't want annoy anyone but labiaplasty exists primarily for ladies that have extremely uncomfortable and painful labias. Trousers cannot be worn, sitting is painful and swim suits at a beach is fraught with embarrasment. How about an article based on sound analysis and reasons the surgery is requested rather than someones friend.

Commenter

billy whizz

Location

brisbane

Date and time

December 28, 2012, 10:59AM

“Look,” she said, pointing towards her vagina and bursting into tears. “I have… an outtie.”

Hahahahahahaha.

Thanks for the morning laugh, that'll get me through the day for sure. Awesome.